The First Carbon Neutral Festival Sent a Clear Message: Every Individual, Organization, and Company Must Contribute to Planet Preservation

The fourth edition of Greencajt festival, held from May 23 to 25 at the Zagreb Fair, attracted as many as 3,500 visitors over three days filled with lectures, panels, and inspirational stories. More than 70 speakers, experts from the ESG sector from the region and the world, discussed key topics related to sustainability, climate change, and energy challenges, while visitors, alongside panels and lectures, had the opportunity to enjoy various content prepared by the organizers in the festival’s expo zone.

Among the most attended lectures was that of Ben Fogle, a researcher, journalist, and adventurer, who shared his experiences from travels around the world and encouraged the audience to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, emphasizing: ‘The key is in small changes – I do not live in a cabin, but I live a simple life. Through my daily actions, I contribute to a sustainable future. We do not need to strive for perfection because if we go down that path, we may lose hope.’

Marc Buckley, a UN advisor, highlighted the importance of revitalizing the planet with his lecture, while Douglas McMaster, owner of London’s first zero-waste restaurant SILO, where there is no waste bin, spoke about innovative approaches in hospitality and presented a system in which every ingredient is fully utilized, and all raw materials are recycled. The panel “Feeding the Future: What Are We Serving on the Plates of Future Generations?” featured discussions on how domestic restaurants and the local food industry achieve sustainability, with participants including Daniel Šturm from Kaufland, Dajana Mrčela from Zvijezda, Dario Kožul from Biomanija, Matija Žulj from Agrivio, and Mario Mandarić from restaurant Noel.

– In today’s world, consumer education is crucial. This is evident in the tourist season. Guests coming to Croatia are increasingly purchasing exclusively local, seasonal products that they know the origin of. Our consumers are not yet that aware, but through our programs, we are working to ensure that every purchase is wisely chosen and has a real impact – said Daniel Šturm, a member of the Kaufland management board.

The festival placed special emphasis on the importance of integrating new technologies into all ESG processes. Technological panels at the festival covered topics such as the development of sustainable digital applications, the use of AI technology to combat climate change, and the implementation of smart solutions in urban infrastructure. Gorjan Jovanovski, creator of the world’s largest climate data platform EarthCare.ai, stood out, while local experts Adrian Ježina, CEO of Telemach, Nikola Dujmović, CEO of SPAN, and Jan Štedul from Mindsmiths concluded on the panel “The Elephant(AI)nt is in the room! Who has the key” that artificial intelligence has great potential to transform the way we live and work, but requires smart management and careful consideration of its ethical and social dimensions.

– It is crucial to ask the right questions and ensure that AI systems are ethical, sustainable, and reliable partners. Only through careful regulation and responsible use can we ensure that AI contributes to a better future for all of us – emphasized Samah El Hage, a technology futurist, and Paolo Nardi Fernandez, an expert on changes in the field of artificial intelligence during the lecture “The Future of Technology: Can AI Think ‘Green’?”

– Choose more, buy less, and make it count – was the message sent from the stage by Marina Spadafora, fair fashion ambassador for sustainable fashion and recipient of the UN award “Women Together.”

– Clothing production has increased by 400 percent in the last 20 years due to fast fashion, which has become the second-largest polluter in the world, right after the oil industry. Annually, 92 million tons of textile waste is generated, and polyester, the most produced material, takes the longest to decompose – highlighted Spadafora, who has been advocating for fair and sustainable fashion for years, and whose lecture was held under the auspices of Perwoll.

Among the key speakers during these three days were ecologists, activists, renewable energy experts, and representatives of leading environmental organizations such as Dr. Wasim Sarwar Dilov from Rimac Energy, Dr. Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leading climate change expert, Helen Carlström from EON, Violeta Bulc, global president of G100 WWEF and former vice president of Slovenia, Noe Van Hulst, hydrogen commissioner at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands, Connie Hedegaard, former Danish Minister of the Environment, Soren Hermansen, director of the Samso Energy Academy, and many others.

An interesting lecture was also given by Goran Milić, a travel writer and award-winning journalist, who shared his experiences from his recent trip to Japan with an enthusiastic audience. On the exceptionally interesting panel “Personal stories, collective future” powered by the European Parliament, Goran Milić, Damir Urban, and Kaja Pavličić shared their visions of the future through the eyes of three different generations.

Greencajt is also the first carbon-neutral festival, which, in collaboration with Raiffeisen Bank and the program co2mpensating by planting, decided to measure greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality. The measurement results will be published in a few weeks, and the excess emissions will be compensated by planting trees in the amount necessary to neutralize the carbon footprint. The Greencajt festival 2024 concluded with a concert by Damir Urban organized in collaboration with OTP Bank, with a clear message about the importance of investing in a sustainable future and achieving a balance between preserving the natural resources we consume and economic progress. All information about the festival and upcoming events is available at www.greencajt.hr, as well as on the festival’s social media – FB, IG profiles.